Donetsk – The City of Love | Featured |Axisoflogic.com

There lies an eery silence in a city that is supposedly comprised of millions of citizens. People say this is because many residents have abandoned Donetsk, escaping with only their lives from the hail of Ukrainian shelling. I don’t know if this is the reason, or if Donetsk was always a quiet place. However, the peaceful atmosphere I discovered here makes this city different from other big cities.

Overgrown weeds on the sides of the roads, instead of the usual decorative grass, bring a special soft effect and make it appear somehow provincial. Together with clean streets full of green trees, there is a deceptive atmosphere of coziness.

Donetsk is a peaceful place, including the people that live there. They are not warmongering but kind and friendly.

Billboard advertising and street names written in Ukrainian are everywhere. Nobody is surprised or upset over this. A statue of Taras Shevchenko – the famous Ukrainian poet and symbol of Ukraine – is situated on the front of the City Administration headquarters.

We listened to Ukrainian songs during the celebration of May Day in a park centrally located in the city.

A young militia member named Moskal was genuinely surprised when asked whether or not he hates the Ukrainian language during an interview with the popular internet resource “Antimaydan”. There is no hate towards Ukraine or the Ukrainian language. Nobody destroys Ukrainian memorials, as the Ukrainians are destroying Russian symbols.

 Despite the horrors of the war, the people of Donetsk do not hate Ukraine.  The madness, accompanied by the destruction of monuments and the renaming of streets, and the words and actions steeped in the blood of Poroshenko, who decreed that the children of Donbass will live their meager existences in basements, has not turned these people against Ukraine.

The use of offensive labels such as "subhuman" did not change the good souls of Donetsk residents. They do not want to hate. Ukrainians are strongly pushing for this, but they remain good and peaceful.

 The people of Donetsk have not ceased to smile like before. Despite the mental and physical strains caused by shelling and living in a war zone, they have stayed above the indignity of hate, despite their dire circumstances.

 Sufficient proof lies in the evidence of how captured Ukrainian servicemen are treated. I was told that they even feed them with the same meal as they use for themselves, believing that it would be unfair to eat better than the prisoners. How much love should be in ones heart to forgive the enemy?  This is why people are so beautiful in Donetsk! The beauty of their inner souls shines forth from their faces.

Love is everywhere in Donetsk – in the caring way people treat stray dogs, which no one hurts, on billboards urging help for the elderly, in every bush in the park that was bought with the warmth and care, and in two militia members, who, like children, were playing with a jigsaw puzzle.

I saw many men with flowers, and I even regretted that I am not a Donetsk woman, because somebody would have brought flowers to me. Rows of flower stalls are open until late at night, even the old granny sells flowers - no trader suffers from a lack of buyers. I do not know if there is another city where, during war times, a demand for flowers could be so brisk. But this is Donetsk.

Flowers sell briskly, despite the threat of war

 The words "I love you" are scribed on a wall and no one raises a hand to wipe it off. Another forged inscription "I love you" in the park – this is also Donetsk.

 

I love you

I love you metal art

As I walked in Donetsk, breathing in this love and peace, there were little children were playing by a fountain while only five kilometers away the thunderous roar of “Grad” unguided missiles rained down on a defenseless population.

"Are the attackers humans or monsters who indiscriminately shell this city and these people", I wondered.